newborn must have

There’s very little we “need” for a fourth baby. Luckily, I’ve held onto most of the important stuff- bouncers and rockers and cloth diapers, etc, and I know what a true “need” is and what will likely wind up superfluous baby crapola a few months in.

Our last baby was a wee newborn over 3 years ago, though, and that is a long time when it comes to innovation in the baby industry. Sure, every year a ton of silly baby stuff comes out that I’d hardly run out to buy, but we have missed out on some fantastic new products, and I’m all for making life with #4 just a little more peaceful.

The Owlet Baby Care monitor piqued my interest before I ever knew I’d have a 4th baby, and I’m thrilled to partner with them on this sponsored post and another to come after he gets here. It’s one of the few baby items that have come out in the last few years that I wish I had with our other 3.

Since it’s introduction to the market just about a year ago, I’ve seen a lot of great things said about it. This tiny, soft sock houses some pretty advanced technology that can go anywhere baby goes…

Which is important when your baby ends up sleeping in many places other than their crib (like all ours have).

The Owlet Baby Care Monitor uses hospital grade technology called pulse oximetry to keep tabs on oxygen levels in baby’s blood. You know when they put that clip with the red light on your finger at the hospital? Yeah, this is doing the same thing.

And then it’s sending that information to your phone (with apps for both iPhone and Android), and also to the independent base station.

And hey, if you don’t have a smartphone (or it died/your toddler flushed it), you don’t need to worry. The base station is your primary alert, and it will work without the apps.

Over the years, I’ve been very vocal about how important it is that I guard my sleep, especially when I have a newborn at home. This family can not handle me being a martyr and sacrificing sleep if we can find alternatives. It’s one of the biggest triggers of my postpartum anxiety, which has hit me hard after the last 2 of my 3 children, and I’m fully prepared for it to sneak up on me again.

In the past, I’ve found myself on high alert, unable to sleep because I can’t stop checking to see if my baby is breathing. Traditional crib monitors didn’t offer much of a solution for me because my babies end up in the bouncer, the co-sleeper, and eventually next to me in bed.

I’m hopeful the Owlet will help me “sleep when baby sleeps” easier.

This isn’t just for the newborn phase, either. It comes with 3 different sized socks to grow with baby, and a 1 year warranty. I’ll have to keep you all updated if this means it will fit my baby’s foot that long, though, since all of mine tend to end up with what we lovingly refer to as “dinner roll” feet (VERY fat). You don’t have to change the battery in the sock, but it does need to be charged daily, so we’ll be setting the charging cord up next to the baby’s changing table in hopes we don’t forget.

The Owlet Baby Care Monitor is $250, and is 100% satisfaction guaranteed for 45 days from purchase, meaning you have that much time to return for a full refund if it doesn’t work out for you.

Stay tuned for a follow up post after baby arrives. Looking forward to telling you all how it works out for us.

Recently, Aden & Anais sent Lowell a box full of soft, muslin goodies, from bibs to blankets and sheets. He’s been snuggling with an Aden & Anais Dream Blanket since we brought him home from the hospital, and the soft fabric seems to soothe him.

I’ve had some crafty, creative fun with Aden & Anais swaddling blankets in the past (and will link you up to a couple posts at the bottom of this one) by channeling my inner cruise ship attendant, and folding them into fun shapes. These muslin blankets are one of my new baby must-haves, and I love gifting them to friends.

I used a total of 6 blankets to make 3 stars- large, medium and small.

The large star required 3 blankets, the small star just required one. This tutorial will show you the medium star, which requires 2 blankets.

You’ll also need a large, clean space for this project. My kitchen table was barely large enough. It also doesn’t hurt to have some extra hands, though it’s not required.

Start by laying down your blankets, face/pattern down, overlapping them by a few inches.

Unroll your foil the length of the blankets. For this star, the medium, I only needed one layer of foil. For the large star with 3 blankets, I used 2 layers (laid on top of each other). For the small star, I didn’t need any foil at all.

The foil just helps give your star points some structure to keep them from being floppy.

Then, working your way up and down the length of the blankets, tightly roll them up with the foil inside.

Keep it up until the foil is completely rolled up, then continue rolling the blanket.

Try to keep the roll as tight as possible and mind the seams where the blankets come together.

You’ll end up with one long roll.

Fold it in half and secure the ends with a piece of tulle or some ribbon.

If you plan to suspend the star, make sure this piece of tulle or ribbon is long enough for that.

Pull the folded end 1/4 of the way in toward the tied end.

This is where you’ll have to play around a bit. What you have here are 3 points of your star. You still need to make 2 more out of those 2 long edges. I tried to come up with a mathematical equation for this, but my brain hurts and doesn’t really work that way. I just play with things until they look okay enough.

Once you’ve got your points evened out, wrap your tulle or ribbon around the center of the star to secure it.

That’s basically it. It’s really really simple.

I love the idea of using these stars to decorate for a baby shower! Hang them from the ceiling over the cake table…

And on the front door…

You really can’t have too many of these blankets! We used them for everything around here.